Pair of Silver Pyramidal Earrings (Vedhla), Kutch, Gujarat, India
Pair of Silver Pyramidal Earrings (Vedhla)
Kutch, Gujarat, India
19th-early 20th century
length (approx): 8.5cm-9cm combined weight: 16g
Each of this unusual pair of earrings comprises a solid pyramidal weight at the end of a long, fine wire rod with an even finer hoop at the other end.
See Ganguly (2007, p. 98) identifies this type of earring as
vedhla earrings from Kutch in Gujarat. She says that two to four of them were worn in each ear in Anjar, but in other areas four were won in the left side and three in the right!
Possibly they were worn by men – she mentions that in another district, they were worn by
Kumar (potters), Mali (gardeners), Gachi (oil workers), and Chowdhary (farmers).
The pair seem to be made of a silver-copper alloy. The two here are not precisely the same size, but do seem to have been together as a pair.
References
Ganguly, W., Earrings: Ornamental Identity and Beauty in India, B.R. Publishing Corporation, 2007.
Provenance
private collection, London.
Inventory no.: 4200
SOLD